Mitsubishi invests $50m in UK solar firm Bboxx
A BRITISH solar power start-up bringing off-grid energy to homes in Africa has raised $50m (£41m) from Mitsubishi to expand.
Bboxx, which provides solar installations in pay-as-you-go instalments, was founded in 2010 and spun out of Imperial College London by Mansoor Hamayun and two fellow graduates.
Its technology helps people in areas with very little energy infrastructure to gain access to local power and pay for it from an app on their smartphone.
The company, now based in Chiswick, west London, was named after its technology, which takes the form of a small “battery box”. One end plugs into a solar panel, while the other end makes contact with electrical sockets.
Bboxx has installed 200,000 home systems and plans to use the funds to expand its product in Asia. Almost 500 million people in Africa lack access to regular grid power, but the falling cost of solar has made it an increasingly attractive energy source for remote areas.
Bboxx has struck deals in Nigeria and Rwanda and is also supplying solar energy to thousands of people in rural Togo with French energy giant EDF.
“The funding is further evidence of Japanese interest in Africa and in payas-you-go solar energy globally,” said Mr Hamayun. He added the deal would help Bboxx reach more people “lacking reliable access to modern utilities” and expand its global footprint.
The investment from Mitsubishi is a major endorsement for the UK startup. Despite concerns that Brexit could hamper investment into UK tech, start-ups have received a record $6.7bn in foreign investment this year.
More than half the total is from US and Asian investors, including major deals from Japan’s Softbank for finance start-ups, including $800m in Greensill and $390m in Oaknorth Bank.
Bboxx is not the first UK energy firm that has attracted Mitsubishi’s interest this year. The Tokyo giant also invested £200m in UK alternative energy provider Ovo, valuing it at more than £1bn.
The deal will help Mitsubishi boost its own power division, which has around 6,100MW of generation capacity in wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.